Combined indicating lamp and pushbutton switch unit



May 12, 19 70 5, FRANK ETAL COMBINED INDICATING LAMP AND PUSH-BUTTON SWITCH UNIT f Fild March 21, 1968 2 Shets-Sheet l las-m FIG.9.

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COMBINED INDICATING LAMP AND PUSH-BUTTON SWITCH UNIT Filed March 21, 1968 s, L- FRANK ETAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.7.

United States Patent 3,511,955 COMBINED INDICATING LAMP AND PUSH- BUTTON SWITCH UNIT Stanley L. Frank, and Stephen S. Dobrosielski, Beaver,

Pa., assignors to Westinghouse Electric Corporation,

Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Ih'led Mar. 21, 1968, Ser. No. 714,937 Int. Cl. H01h 9/18 U.S. Cl. 200-167 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A combined indicating lamp and push-button switch unit having a housing or support member with an opening in which an indicating lamp is disposed. A hollow actuating member which surrounds the lamp is movable within the opening and is biased in a predetermined direction by a spring means and by the resilient contacts of a switch means disposed inside the housing. A transformer may also be disposed inside said housing and electrically connected to the indicating lamp.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In certain types of control systems, such as motor control systems, it is desirable to provide an indicating lamp to indicate the energization of a control device, such as a motor contactor, which may be located remotely from the means, such as a push-button switch, which is used to energize the control device. In order to save time in checking whether the indicating lamp is burned out the indicating lamp may be combined in known structures with a push-button switch which may be actuated by depressing the lens enclosing the lamp to connect the lamp in a test circuit. Such known structures may employ a relatively large spring to bias certain parts of the combined structure toward a normal operating position and include one or more enclosed switches mounted on the combined structure. Where space is at a premium in the application of such combined structures, it is desirable to provide a more compact construction for a combined indicating lamp and push-button switch structure of the type described.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention, a housing or support member includes an opening in which an indicating lamp is surrounded by a relatively movable hollow actuating member or push-button member which may have a lens mounted thereon or formed integrally therewith. The actuating member includes a flange which engages a portion of the associated housing to limit the outward movement of said actuating member with respect to the opening in the housing. A spring means is disposed inside the housing at one side of the actuating member and the resilient contact ofa switch means is disposed at the other side of said actuating member to bias said actuating member toward a normal operating position.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved combined indicating lamp and push-button switch unit which is more compact in construction than known devices or units of the same general type.

Another object of this invention is to provide a combined indicating lamp and push-button switch unit in which a resilient contact of the switch means of the combined device or unit assists in biasing an actuating member or push-button member which forms part of the combined unit toward a normal operating position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a view, partly in side elevation and partly in section of a combined indicating lamp and push-button switch unit embodying the principal features of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in section with certain parts removed, taken along the line IIII of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view in section, taken along the line IIIIII of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view, in perspective, of a portion of the combined indicating lamp and push-button switch unit of FIGS. 1 through 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged detailed view showing a portion of the combined indicating lamp and push-button switch unit of FIGS. 1 through 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the arrangement and interconnections of certain portions of the combined indicating lamp and push-button switch unit of FIGS. 1 through 5;

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic or schematic view of a control system utilizing the combined indicating lamp and push-button switch unit of FIGS. 1 through 6; and

FIGS. 8 and 9 are enlarged detailed views showing alternative contact constructions which may be employed in the combined indicating lamp and push-button switch unit of FIGS. 1 through 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings and FIG. 1 in particular, there is illustrated a combined indicating lamp and push-button switch unit 10 which in general comprises a first housing section or base member 60, a second housing section or supporting sleeve 50, a switch means 70, a generally hollow or tubular actuating member 36 and an indicating lamp assembly which includes the indicating lamp 42 and the lamp receptacle or socket 44. The housing section or supporting sleeve 50 is preferably composed of a cast metal and has a flange 54 at the inner end thereof for engaging the inner side of a supporting panel 22. A sealing member or gasket 62, which is preferably composed of a resilient material such as rubber or the like, is inter posed between the flange 54 and the inner surface of the panel 22. The outer end of the supporting sleeve 50 is externally threaded for receiving a clamping ring 38 which is adapted to secure the supporting sleeve 50 to the panel 22 when the clamping ring 38 is drawn down tightly. The clamping ring 38 may also include a flange portion which bears against the outer surface of the panel 22. The supporting sleeve 50 is secured to the housing section or base member 60 by any suitable means, such as a plurality of screws 136, one of which is shown in FIG. 1, which pass through openings (not shown) provided in the flange 54 of supporting sleeve 50 into aligned openings provided in the base member 60, as indicated at 132 and 134 in FIG. 2. The openings 132 and 134 are threaded to receive the associated screws 136, as shown for the opening 134 in FIG. 3. The elongated base member 60 is preferably formed or molded from an electrically insulating material with the lower portion of the lamp receptacle 44 being embedded in the electrically insulating material from which the upper end of the base member 60 is formed, as indicated at 60A in FIG. 4, or secured to the upper end of the base member 60 by suitable means Where desired in a particular application.

As illustrated diagrammatically in FIG. 6, a transformer may be encapsulated in the insulating material from which the housing section or base member 60 is formed in order to reduce the voltage which is applied to the indicating lamp 42, as will be explained hereinafter. The transformer 100 has a secondary winding which may be connected to the pair of terminals 41 and 43 provided on the lamp receptacle 44 by the conductors 101 and 103,

respectively, as shown in FIG. 6 which are also embedded in the insulating material from which the base member 60 is formed. The transformer 100 also has a primary winding which is connected to a source of alternating current in a manner described hereinafter. A resistor may be utilized in place of the transformer 100' or the transformer 100 may be omitted and the lamp unit 42 connected directly across the line voltage in a particular application. As shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of terminal members 91, 92 and 93 may also be embedded in the insulating material from which the base member 60 is formed and adapted to receive the terminal screws T T and T respectively, as indicated in FIG. 1.

In order to actuate the switch means 70 which is disposed inside the overall housing formed by the housing sections 50 and 60 and which will be described hereinafter, the actuating or operating member 36 is slidably disposed in the central opening 51 of the supporting sleeve 50 between the lamp assembly which includes the indicating lamp 42 and the lamp receptacle 44 and the inner surface of the supporting sleeve 50 with the actuating member 36 projecting outwardly beyond the outer end of the supporting sleeve 50, as shown in FIG. 1. The actuating member 36 is preferably formed from an electrically insulating material and as illustrated includes an integral flange portion 36B which normally bears against or engages the flange 54 of the supporting sleeve 56 which acts as a stop to limit the outward movement of the actuating member 36. An O-ring gasket or sealing member 64 may be disposed between a shoulder 36A provided on the actuating member 36 and a shoulder 53 provided at the lower end of the supporting sleeve 50 in order to prevent the entrance of oil or other material through the space or clearance between the actuating member 36 and the central opening 51 of the supporting sleeve 50. In order to permit limited rectilinear travel or movement of the flange portion 36B and of the overall actuating member 36, the housing section or base members 60 includes a generally annular recess as indicated at 60E in FIGS. 2 and 4 between the insulating material which surrounds the lower portion of the lamp receptacle 44 and the outer walls of the base member 60.

In order to bias the actuating member 36 outwardly with respect to the supporting sleeve 50, at one side of the flange portion 36B of the actuating member 36, a compression spring 82 is disposed in an opening 83 provided in the base member 60 with the lower end of the spring 82 hearing against the base member 60 at the bottom of the opening 83, as shown in FIG. 1, and with the upper end of the spring 82 bearing against one side of the flange portion 36B of the actuating member 36. A spring seat member 37 may be formed integrally with the flange portion 36B of the actuating member 36 or mounted thereon to project downwardly into the spring 82, as shown in FIG. 1. It is to be noted that the flange portion 36B includes a central recess or opening 360 which is relatively larger in size than the insulating material which surrounds the lower portion of the lamp receptacle 44, as indicated at 60A in FIG. 4, to clear the insulating material which surrounds the lamp receptacle 44 during the movement of the actuating member 36.

In order to protect the bulb portion of the indicating lamp 42, a lens 32 may be mounted at the outer end of the actuating member 36 for movement therewith or formed integrally therewith where desired in a particular application. As illustrated, the lower end of the lens 32 is externally threaded and a lens ring 34 is internally threaded to receive the lens 32 at the upper portion of the ring 34. The lower end of the lens ring 34 may be secured to the upper end of the actuating member 36 by any suitable means, such as internal threads on the ring 34 which are adapted to receive external threads provided on the upper end of the actuating member 36. It is to be noted that the lens 32 cooperates with the actuating member 36 to enclose the indicating lamp 42 and also serves as a push-button member during the operation of the combined lamp and push-button switch unit 10.

The switch means 70 of the combined indicating lamp and push-button switch unit 10 comprises a pair of relatively stationary spaced contact members 74 and 76 and a relatively movable contact member 72 which, as best shown in FIG. 4, normally engages the upper contact member 74. The contact members 72, 74 and 76 are all formed or made from an electrically conducting, spring type or resilient material such as silver plated steel spring wire and each of said contact members includes a generally vertical post portion which is supported by being embedded in the insulating material from which the base member 60 is formed and a transverse portion which projects out of the insulating material from which the base member 60 is formed, as shown in FIG. 4. More specifically, the transverse portions of the contact members 74 and 76 as best shown in FIG. 5 are disposed generally parallel to one another and spaced from one another at one side of the base member 60. The transverse portion of the contact member 74 is disposed at an angle of slightly less than with respect to the vertical post portion of the contact member 74 which is embedded in the shoulder portion 60D of the base member 60. The transverse portion of the contact member '76 is disposed at an angle of slightly greater than 90 with respect to the vertical post portion of the contact member 76 which is embedded in the shoulder portion 60B of the base member 60 with both the contact members 74 and 76 being disposed inside the opening or recess provided at one side of the base member 60, as shown in FIG. 4. The transverse portion of the relatively movable contact member 72 is disposed at substantially a right angle with respect to vertical post portion of the contact member 72 which is embedded in the shoulder portion 60C of the base member 60, as shown in FIG. 4, and is disposed generally perpendicular to the plane in which the contact members '74 and 76 generally lie. It is important to note, as shown in FIG. 3, that the transverse portion of the contact member 72 is bent under the contact member 74 from its undeflected position which is indicated in phantom at 72' in FIG. 3 by a predetermined angle which may, for example, be approximately 7", as shown in FIGe 3, so that the transverse portion of the contact member 72 is in a charged condition when the free end of the contact member 72 engages the contact member 74, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

In order to actuate the relatively movable contact member 72 from the normal position in which the free end of the contact member 72 engages the associated contact member 74, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a plunger member or projecting member 39 may be formed integrally with the flange portion 36B of the actuating member 36 or mounted thereon with the lower end of the plunger member 39 engaging the transverse portion of the contact member 72 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. The plunger member 39 may include a slot or recess at its lower end to more positively engage the transverse portion of the contact member 72. Since the transverse portion of the contact member 72 is in a charged condition from the spring standpoint, the contact member '72 also biases the actuating member 36 outwardly with respect to the supporting sleeve 50 at a location which is diagona ly opposite the location of the compression spring 82 in order to substantially balance the biasing forces acting on the actuating member 36 at the opposite sides thereof and to maintain a proper alignment of the actuating member 36 with respect to the supporting sleeve 50. 5

In the operation of the combined indicating lamp and push-button switch unit 10, when the actuating member 36 is manually pushed or depressed in a downward direction, as viewed in FIG. 1, the plunger member 39 actuates the free end of the contact member 72 out of engagement with the Contact member 74 and further deflects the free end of the contact member 72 until the free end of the contact member 72 engages the lower contact member 76. It is to be noted that the force applied to the actuating member 36 is opposed by the biasing forces exerted on the actuating member 36 both by the compression spring 82 and the resilient or spring type contact member 72 at the opposite sides of the actuating member 36. It is important to note that during the operation of the combined indicating lamp and pushbutton switch unit 10, a wiping action results between the relatively movable contact member 72 and the associated relatively stationary contact members 74 and 76, as best illustrated in FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 5, during the travel of the movable contact member 72, a wiping movement, as indicated at 142, will occur with respect to the contact member 74 between the position indicated at 72 and the position as indicated at 72' either because of over-travel of the contact member 72 or because of relatively transverse movement of the contact member 72 with respect to the contact member 74 when the contact member 72 either engages or disengages the contact member 74. Similarly, a wiping movement will result between the contact member 72 and the contact member 76, as indicated between the positions at 72 and 72" in FIG. 5, when the contact member 72 either engages or disengages the contact member 76.

As shown in FIG. 7, the combined indicating lamp and push-button switch unit may be utilized in a control system to indicate the energization of the operating coil 132 of a contactor MC which may be used to control the operation of an electric motor (not shown). More spe cifically, the operating coil 132 of the contactor MC is electrically connected in series with a stop push-button 110 and a start push-button 120 with the series circuit being connected between the line conductors L1 and L2 of an alternating current source. As illustrated, the contactor MC may include a holding contact or auxiliary contact 134 which is electrically connected in parallel with the start push-button 120 and which is actuated to the closed position when the operating coil 132 of the contactor MC is energized to maintain the operating coil 132 in an energized condition. In general the indicating lamp 42 of the combined indicating lamp and push-button switch unit 10 is electrically connected in parallel with the operating coil 132 of the contactor MC through the interposing transformer 100, as shown in FIG. 7, when the movable contact member 72 is in the normal operating position in which the contact member 72 engages the upper contact member 74, as shown in FIG. 7. More specifically, the indicating lamp 42 is electrically connected across the secondary winding 104 of the transformer 100 through the conductors 101 and 103 which are electrically connected to the terminals 41 and 43, respectively, of the lamp receptacle 44, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The primary winding 102 of the transformer 100 is electrically connected between the terminal 93 and the terminal 92 when the movable contact member 72 is in the normal operating position as shown in FIG. 7 through the series circuit which extends from the terminal 93 through the conductor 126, the contact member 74, the movable contact member 72, the conductor 124, the primary winding 102, and the conductor 128 to the terminal 92. As just mentioned, the primary winding 102 is electrically connected in parallel with the operating coil of the contactor MC when the movable contact member 72 is in the normal operating position shown in FIG. 7 since one end of the operating coil 132 of the contactor MC is connected to the terminal member 93 and the other end of the operating coil 132 is connected to the terminal 92 through the line conductor L2 as shown in FIG. 7.

In the operation of the control system shown in FIG. 7, when the start push-button 120 is depressed to thereby energize the operating coil 132 of the contactor MC by connecting the operating coil 132 between the line conductors L1 and L2 through the stop push-button 110 and the start push-button 120, a holding circuit is formed by the contactor MC which actuates the normally open auxiliary contact 134 to the closed position to thereby establish the series circuit which extends from the line conductor L1 through the stop push-button 110, the auxiliary contact 134, the operating coil 132 to the other line conductor L2. Assuming that the movable contact member 72 of the combined indicating lamp and push-button switch unit 10 is in the normal operating position as shown in FIG. 7 in which the movable contact member 72 engages the associated contact member 74, the primary winding 102 of the transformer will also be energized from the line conductors L1 and L2 since the primary winding is electrically connected in parallel with the operating coil 132 of the contactor MC as explained previously. Assuming that the indicating lamp 42 is not burned out, the indicating lamp 42 will therefore be energized and indicate the energized condition of the operating coil 132 of the contactor MC.

In the operation of the combined indicating lamp and push-button switch unit 10 in the control system shown in FIG. 7, if it is desired to test whether the indicating lamp 42 is burned out or not, the actuating member 36 may be manually depressed to thereby actuate the movable contact member 72 from the position shown in FIG. 7 in which the movable contact member 72 engages the associated contact member 74 until the movable contact member 72 engages the lower associated contact member 76 to thereby connect the primary winding 102 of the transformer 100 directly across the line conductors L1 and L2 independently of whether the operating coil 132 of the contactor MC is energized. The test circuit for the indicating lamp 42 which results when the movable contact member 72 is actuated to engage the contact member 76 extends from the line conductor L1 through the terminal member 91, the electrical conductor 122, the contact member 76, the movable contact member 72, the conductor 124, the primary winding 102, the conductor 128, and the terminal member 92 to the other line conductor L2. It is to be noted that when the test circuit described is set up by depressing the actuating member 36 and the lens 32 at the outer end of the actuating member 36, the energizing circuit of the lamp 42 which is normally set up when the operating coil 132 of the contactor MC is energized is automatically deenergized by actuating the movable contact 72 to the associated contact member 76. In other words, the indicating lamp 42 may be conveniently tested by the disclosed construction without energizing the operating coil 132 of the motor contactor MC and provides a positive check as to whether the indicating lamp 42 is burned out or not when desired to do so during the operation of the control system shown in FIG. 7. It is also important to note that when the actuating member 36 is released after being manually depressed, the biasing forces exerted on the actuating member 36 by the compression spring 82 and the spring action of the movable contact member 72 will return the actuating member 36 to its normal operating position shown in FIG. 1 in which the flange portion 36B engages the flange 54 of the supporting sleeve 50.

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, two alternative constructions are illustrated for the movable contact members 72 shown in FIGS. 1 through 6. More specifically, the movable contact member 172 shown in FIG. 8 incorporates an additional loop-shaped portion which increases the resilience or spring action of the movable contact where required in the particular application. Similarly, the movable contact member 272 shown in FIG. 9 includes one or more additional spring turns of the spring type material which forms the contact members 272 to also increase the resilience or effective spring action of the movable contact as required in a particular application of a combined indicating lamp and push-button switch unit of the type disclosed.

It is to be understood that in certain applications the disclosed combined indicating lamp and push-button switch unit may be modified to provide for actuation of the switch means included in the combined unit by the rotary movement of a generally tubular actuating member similar to the actuating member 36 except that the flange portion of such a modified actuating member may be modified to include a cam surface which actuates the movement of the movable contact member such as the movable contact member 72 by rotation of the actuating member rather than by rectilinear movement of the actuating member as disclosed in the combined unit previously described. Similarly, a modified actuating member may be provided which includes a cam surface which cams the movable contact member between operating positions by rectilinear movement of the actuating member where desired in a particular application.

The apparatus embodying the teachings of this invention has several advantages. For example, a combined indicating lamp and push-button switch unit as disclosed is more compact in construction to permit application of such a combined unit in applications where space is at a premium. In addition, a combined indicating lamp and push-button switch unit as disclosed reduces the size of the biasing spring required in a particular application since the contact members of the switch means included in the overall unit cooperate in providing the necessary biasing forces on the actuating or operating member associated with the switch means. In other words, the contact members of the switch means included in the overall combining and disclosed function both as separable contact means and also as biasing means in order to maintain the associated actuating member in the normal operating position following a manual operation of the combined unit to test the associated indicating lamp. Finally, the combined unit construction disclosedadditionally reduces the size of the overall unit by providing a common insulating housing section for both the switch means 70 and the associated transformer where provided in a particular application with the same insulating housing section also serving as a base member on which the supporting sleeve 50 is mounted.

Since numerous changes may be made in the above described apparatus and different embodiments of the invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

We claim as our invention:

1. A combined indicating lamp and push-button switch comprising an elongated housing having an axially extending central opening at one end of the housing and a shoulder portion at the inner end of said central opening, an indicating lamp at least partially disposed in said central opening, a hollow actuating member disposed to extend at least partially into said central opening and to move axially with respect to said housing, said actuating member having a flange disposed adjacent to the shoulder portion of said housing, spring means disposed inside said housing to bias only a first portion of the flange of said actuating member toward the shoulder portion of said housing, and separable contact means disposed inside said housing in the path of movement of said actuating member to be actuated between open and closed positions by said actuating member, said contact means including at least one contact member formed from spring type material and disposed to bias a second portion of the flange of said actuating member toward the shoulder portion of said housing said first and second portions of said flange Fbeing spaced from one another around the periphery of said flange.

2. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein said spring means and said one contact member are disposed at generally opposite sides of the flange of said actuating member.

3. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein a second contact member is provided which is normally engaged by said one contact member, said one contact member being retained in a deflected position by said second contact member.

4. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein said actuating member including an elongated portion which projects away from the flange of said actuating member to bear against said one contact member.

5. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein a pair of spaced contact members are mounted on said housing, said one contact member normally engaging one of said pair of spaced contact members and actuable by movement of said actuating member to engage the other of said pair of spaced contact members.

6. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein a transformer having a primary winding and a secondary winding is disposed in said housing, said indicating lamp being connected across the secondary winding of said transformer.

7. The combination as claimed in claim 5 wherein a transformer having a primary Winding and a secondary winding is disposed in said housing, said indicating lamp being electrically connected across said secondary winding, said primary winding having one end connected to said one of said pair of spaced contact members.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,099,771 7/ 1963 Matiyak et al. 200172 3,215,806 11/1965 Arnold et a1. 3,290,629 12/1966 Jeanne ZOO-166.1 3,315,060 4/ 1967 Rothweiler et al. 3,330,916 7/1967 Bauer. 3,335,249 8/1967 De Smidt et al. 3,388,229 6/ 1968 Lyvang.

HERMAN O. JONES, Primary Examiner 

